Anti-gay social media group in Russia offers reward for outing LGBT teachers

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia — A new anti-gay group has emerged on the popular Russian social network Vkontakte (vk.com) offering rewards for reporting “confirmed” information on gay school teachers, reports Queer Russia.

FileDemonstrators protest Russia’s anti-gay laws.

The group aims to stop “gay propaganda to minors” in schools and by working with local authorities to have gay teachers fired, according to an announcement on the group’s vk.com page.

The announcement claims that such open information can be “threatening to psyche and mind of children who may be around such people”.

The group claims to have connections with the Russian authorities in order to perform dismissals “without any bullying, homophobia or calls to violence”, but still enforcing the “gay propaganda to minors ban law”.

The group calls to have “common sense and protect morality of underage children” and promises to send money to informers in 2-3 weeks once the information sent is “confirmed.”

The group is encouraging citizens to collect and send in any public information about LGBT teachers who are “explicitly or implicitly” open about their own sexual orientation on the internet, and to their students.